Monsoon Session of Parliament will start from September 14. (File)
No all-party meeting will be held before the monsoon session of parliament, which begins tomorrow. The departure from the usual convention, likely the first time in two decades, is being seen as indication of the growing differences between the opposition and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.
The Speaker has called a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee at 11 AM today to discuss the agenda in the monsoon session, which concludes on October 1.
In today's meeting, issues such as the abolition of Question Hour and the curtailing of Zero Hour are likely to be raised. The government has stood firm on its decision of not resuming the Question Hour, which has generated growing resentment among opposition MPs.
A decision on the discussion on the Indo-China stand off, contraction in the economy and the handling of the pandemic will be the issues that the opposition is expected to raise.
The government has to decide whether it will agree for these short-duration discussions without voting.
In 2017, citing national security, the government had refused to speak on Doklam.
Parliament was adjourned sine die in March, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the countrywide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.
This is the first parliament session after 20 soldiers were killed in the line of duty in June in Ladakh amid clashes with China. The government may find it difficult to avoid a discussion on the issue.
Ahead of the session, all the members of parliament were requested to get themselves tested for COVID-19. With 200 out of 785 members of parliament above 65 years of age, and at least seven union ministers and two dozen lawmakers recovering from COVID-19, the pandemic has cast a shadow over the monsoon session.
The session will have Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha working in separate shifts and there will be special seating for MPs to ensure distancing. Lok Sabha will sit from 9 AM to 1 PM on the first day and from 3 PM to 7 PM till October 1. Rajya Sabha will sit from 3 PM to 7 PM the first day and 9 AM to 1 PM the rest of the days. Weekends will be working days.
